Cross your fingers for Day # 2 tomorrow!
PS - I'm in for a lot of "A Whole New World" being sung this week...definite favourite over "One Jump Ahead" and "Friend Like Me". Why doesn't Matt ever take ME on a magic carpet ride?
We were supposed to have 18 auditions today...and only 9 showed up! Have a few potential Jasmine's, a few people definitely for the chorus, and a few others that we just won't talk about...wow. There are at least 3 more days (and possibly Friday too now), so hopefully we'll see some male leads as well - I'm excited for these kids. Some of them have such enthusiasm, and it's hard to believe that some of them are just in grade 9!
Cross your fingers for Day # 2 tomorrow! PS - I'm in for a lot of "A Whole New World" being sung this week...definite favourite over "One Jump Ahead" and "Friend Like Me". Why doesn't Matt ever take ME on a magic carpet ride?
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I separated this post from the one below because it's more exciting. So last year I helped with our school play "High School Musical" - don't get me wrong - it was REALLY well done, I just am not really a fan of the movie. I just did snacks and usher organizing, etc., nothing crazy. I was definitely interested in doing more, but that's sometimes tough because I'm not in the Arts department.
WELL. I guess they couldn't get an arts person to do vocals, and Caroline (my former science coworker and director - she has since moved to only teaching arts) asked me. I am very excited but also freaking out a bit. It's just like prepping a brand new course. Except it's not my teachable. Yes, I can sing. Have I ever taught it? No. Luckily these kids seem awesome so far, but they'll still need a lot of direction. So....I am undertaking a BIG project - 4-5 day commitment per week big. I will also have "Friend Like Me" stuck in my head until April. Auditions are next week Monday-Thursday (vocal and drama), and dance auditions are the following week (every person trying out must do all three). Don't think you guys can get away with not seeing it. It's gonna be GREAT! Seriously? After hounding the school board to get my documents back to me, I found out the York specialist is now cancelled too! They told me to try in the summer - BUT I DON'T WANT TO DO IT ON MY SUMMER VACATION! Grrr...now I have two $800 cheques floating around at these schools and it will take 4-6 weeks to process both of them and get them back to me. Honestly. I want my pay bump sooner rather than later and I want to get this done. *Sigh*
I got an email from U of T OISE yesterday saying due to low enrollment, my honours specialist in chemistry course was cancelled. They also said it would take 4-6 weeks to process my cancellation, so until then, I am out $800! I was so bummed because I really want to get it done.
I looked into Nippissing, but their website is so hard to follow and it was $100 more expensive and it was 3 weeks longer (right through Christmas) that I really didn't get a good vibe for taking an online course through them. Luckily I found it offered online through York's faculty of Ed. It is $50 cheaper too, and it's the exact same timeline as U of T's was (Sept 27th-Dec 10th). YAY! So I ordered ANOTHER Queen's transcript and printed another form for the supervisory officer to sign saying I have taught a year's worth of chemistry, and I start the process again. Hopefully this one does not get cancelled! Fingers crossed! Week one is done! It went pretty well, actually. All my classes are pretty good - I have some funny ones in my chem class that will probably drive me crazy in a few weeks, but for now they are good.
My grade 10 classes are so different. My morning ones are very weak and chatty - 8 of them failed at least part of their grade 9 review test. My afternoon kids are very bright - lots of marks in the 80's and 90's, and no one really close to failing (I did give them COMPLETELY different tests). I'll have to start making "are you sure your son/daughter is okay in the academic stream" phone calls on Monday. After 3 days of reviewing last year's material, they really should have gotten better marks on an easy test. Let's hope week 2 is as good! Yesterday was the first day of school for the year. It went pretty well overall - I was happy with it. It is so nice to be going back to the same school, where you know most of the routines already, and just have to focus on the new classes of students. The past few years those routines and new schools were very tough to manage along with everyone else.
My first period is grade 10 academic science - good kids so far, but a bit chatty, as is normal. I have prep right after that - ugh. I do not like prep in the mornings - I like to get my classes done or at least 2 of 3 before I have a break to do prep work. Oh well, the good thing is that it's with Marta and we have fun, but the bad thing is that we distract each other and neither of us get as much done as we want. After lunch I have grade 12 college chemistry, which can be a tough class, but I seem to have pretty good kids so far (fingers crossed they stay that way). Last period is another section of grade 10, and then seem very smart and focused. So far, so good with all of them! No drama yet, no kids with too much attitude, no teachers driving me up the wall, so it's good! There are a few routine changes this year - announcements & anthem at the end of first period versus the beginning. I liked in the beginning to get myself settled into first period, but it seems like a better use of time now. We're also doing a period flip like we did at Austin - halfway through the morning classes are switched (1 with 2), and afternoon classes are switched (3 with 4). This is so coaches and teams don't always miss the same class and that our preps change a bit. Wow...I thought teaching classes would be more interesting...I need to write down the funny things they do and say so I have more to mention...maybe it'll be better after the first week! I went in to school on Tuesday afternoon - lugged a ton of stuff up to my room, got my keys, and that's about it. I didn't have enough storage so my desk was a disaster. Headed out to Staples and loaded up with supplies, and got some clothes for the fall - nothing crazy - just basic Smart Set stuff - going to head to Banana soon to get the good stuff!
Wednesday and Thursday were mandatory days. so I was in bright and early. Staff meeting, mass, basic intro stuff on the first day, and government stuff yesterday, but we had some time to set up and copy and get organized. I did most of my work today - I went in really early and did a ton of copying, got my computer setup, cleaned every surface and all the boards in my room, and got all my copies ready for the first day. Should be good to go for the first few days - a few things I still need to bring and do on Tuesday morning, but nothing too crazy. I have all my class lists too, which is good. So glad to be back at the same school!!! Today in the mail I got my `back to school` letter from my principal. It was nice to hear about the teachers who became permanent who were LTO`s last year, and even just teachers on LTO who are back again. I`m sad to see that some are not there, but hopefully they are at another school! That`s the trouble with teaching right now - it`s tough and I keep remembering that I am lucky to have secured a permanent position so early in my teaching career. Good luck to those still interviewing and looking - like my brother`s girlfriend, Jessica, who is such an incredible person, and I just know that she will make an incredible teacher one day too. Good luck Jess!
I also got my timetable. The first semester is amazing - it is pretty much the same as last semester. Grade 10 academic period 1, prep period 2, lunch, Grade 12 college chem period 3, and Grade 10 academic period 4 - ALL IN THE SAME ROOM! That was a great happy surprise. Second semester is ok. Grade 11 university chem period 1, grade 10 academic period 2, lunch, grade 10 applied period 3, and prep period 4 - ALL IN DIFFERENT ROOMS! I am used to the morning before lunch in one room and the afternoon after lunch in another, but not used to having to change rooms between classes. That is going to be tough. I guess I did it at my old schools, but I have been spoiled at my own school! At least I`m not teaching science in a religion room like last year - so every little improvement is good! I`m a bit excited to be back into the teaching routine and stuff, but I`m sure if I read this post in a month I will think I was nuts. I`m also registering for my chemistry honours specialist this fall. I`m taking it through U of T (OISE), and its all online, starting Sept 27th and going to Dec 10th. Nice and short, but I`m sure its a lot of work in those 11 weeks. At least when it`s done I will be bumped up a pay category and my pay will go up! Not sure if it will go up right away, but at least it will be retroactive for whenever I finished it. That will be a big help this year for sure! Now to get some motivation to get my back to school documents updated and ready to go for copying next week...*sigh* I probably won`t do it until Monday! Typical teacher procrastination! Next Wednesday I have to go back to school. I'll actually probably go back on Tuesday, but I MUST be there next Wednesday and Thursday. Good ol' mandatory PA days before school starts - this is the second year for this - not sure why it is still happening with our board but not any others. Oh well, I would have gone in next week anyway to do lots of prep and setup.
This week I cleaned out the den, and about half of that work was organizing binders and school stuff. I came home in June and dumped a whole bunch of stuff in to the den. Then I came home from teaching summer school in July and dumped even more. I was finally able to focus on the wedding stuff so I didn't even care about the mess. Once I cleaned, I realized I had no more room for binders or anything. So I spent yesterday going through binders and clearing out duplicates, and making things a bit more organized. I also took all the courses I won't be teaching this year (civics, careers, math), and put it all in a box to go into the storage locker (sidenote - I should really clean the storage locker). Now my binders actually fit on my shelves, although I could use a lot more room, and I have a pile of stuff to go to school with me next week. I have to do a run to Staples for the usual supplies (but NOT page protectors - after clearing out my binders I have now have 2 2-inch binders only filled with page protectors), Ikea for a new cabinet for my desk (I switched desks so I don't have as many drawers now in the department office), and Costco for a giant supply of Carnation Breakfast Shakes and Power/Granola Bars (I hardly have time to eat in the day and these would be a great help). The rest of the week I'll make sure the first few days of school stuff is organized, and start planning units. This semester I am teaching 2 sections of grade 10 academic science, and 1 section of grade 12 college chemistry, and I have section period as my prep (with Marta!). I've taught these all before but there is a new biology unit in grade 10 - body systems (it used to be ecology, but now that's in grade 9) - so I'll have to look that over. Next semester I have 2 sections of grade 10 applied science, and 1 section of grade 11 university chemistry, with last period as my prep (my favourite prep time!). The 11 U is a new course for me (I've taught parts of it twice during LTO's, but not the whole course from start to finish), so it will require lots of prep. I looked at my class list for that and about half of the students I taught in grade 10 so that will be good. Looking forward to the year and being at the same school again. Such a relief not to learn so many new staff and routines. I still don't know a lot of people, but it will be an easier first few weeks for sure! We'll see if people adjust to the name change for my first married teaching year! |
MissSecondary school chemistry teacher, makeshift vocal director, behavioral therapist & all around life coach Archives
April 2011
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